Gas wall heater



M y 1968 A. M. CASTELLO ETAL 3,

GAS WALL HEATER isheets-sheet 1 Filed Sept. 7, 1965 y 1968 A. M.CASTELLO ETAL 3,384,070

GAS WALL HEATER Filed Sept. 7, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet z l' 1 l I 2Jzz/cvars. g6 JQMG; J5 $066464? Cooper United States Patent 3,384,070GAS WALL HEATER Anthony M. Castello and Robert R. Cooper, Wichita,Kans., assignors to The Coleman Company, Inc., Wichita, Kans., acorporation of Kansas Filed Sept. 7, 1966, Ser. No. 577,671 6 Claims.(Cl. 126110) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A gas wall heater equipped withan auxiliary air blower. The heater includes an outer casing and aradiator casing mounted therein. The radiator casing is provided with anair-directing channel for directing air in a generally horizontaldirection, and an air blower is mounted in the outer casing adjacent theair directing channel for withdrawing heated air from the channel anddischarging the air into the room to be heated.

Background of the invention This invention relates to gas wall heaters,and more particularly to a heat exchanger, blower and front panelassembly for a gas wall heater. The inventive features have particularutility with gas wall heaters of the gravity circulation type which areequipped with an auxiliary blower.

Many gas wall heaters are commonly designed to function primarily ascirculation heaters. That is, heavier cold air is drawn in near thebottom of the heater, heated and discharged as lighter hot air at ornear the top of the heater. However, it is often desirable to increasethe circulation of the heated air in the room by adding an accessorymotor-driven blower. Also, since the light, heated air tends to rise,the air near the floor of the room being heated tends to remain cold,and it is desirable to 7 use an accessory blower to direct heated airtoward the floor of the room. However, since the blower is not intendedto be the prime air mover, but only an aid to gravity circulation, theblower must be positioned so that it does not nullify the naturalgravity circulation of the heated air.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a gas wallheater of the gravity circulation type with a motor-driven air blower toincrease the circulation of heated air through the room to be heatedwithout interfering with the gravity circulation. Another object of theinvention is to provide a gas wall heater of the gravity circulationtype with a motor-driven air blower to direct heated air to the colder,lower region of the room to be heated.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as thespecification proceeds.

The invention is explained in conjunction with the accompanying drawing,in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a gas wall heater ernbodying the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the lines 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the air blower;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the heater of FIG. 1 with the frontcover partially removed;

FIG. 5 is sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is front elevational view of the heater with the front coverremoved.

Referring now to the drawing, and in particular to FIGS. 1 and 2, thenumeral 10 designates generally a gravity circulation gas wall heater ofthe through-the- Patented May 21, 1968 wall type. The heater 10 includesan outer frame 11, which includes top wall 12, rear wall 13, bottom wall14, front wall and side walls 16. Removably attached to the outer casing11 is front panel 17, which includes attaching hooks 18 (FIG. 4) whichare received in slots 19 provided in the side walls 16 and attachingclips 20 which are inserted over front wall 15 of the outer casing.

Front panel 17 is provided with louver-equipped ail intake grille 21 andlouver-equipped air outlet grille 22. The top wall 12 of the outercasing is also provided with louver-equipped grille 23. Grilles 21 and22 of the front panel are separated by an imperforate portion 24.

The rear wall 13 of the outer casing is offset from the rear edges ofthe top bottom sides 12 and 14, and rear wall 13 and room wall 25provide air space 26. Attached to rear wall 13 and extending through anopening provided in room wall 25 is cylindrical inlet air collar 27 (seeFIG. 2). The outside end of inlet air collar 27 is bent outwardly toform flange 28.

Radiator casing 29 provides a combustion chamber it the lower portionthereof and serves as a heat radiator heating the ambient airsurrounding the radiator casing on all sides. Radiator casing 29 issupported by flue exhaust tube 30 and inlet air tube 31 which extendthrougl openings 32 and 33, respectively, provided in suppor wall 34.Support wall 34 is generally rectangular in shape and includes anoutwardly extending perimetric flange 35 which is spot welded to rearwall 13. Support wal 34 and rear wall 13 provide inlet air passage 36thert between (see FIGS. 2 and 5). Openings 32 and 33 0: support wall 34are defined by perimetric flanges 37 ant 38, respectively, provided bythe support wall (see FIG 5 Gasket 39 may be provided between flueexhaust tllbt 30 andperimetric flange 37 and gasket 40 may be pro videdbetween inlet air tube 31 and perimetric flange 31 in order to insure atight fit between these parts and als to avoid metal-to-rnetal contactbetween these parts.

Flue exhaust tube 30 extends through inlet air collar 27, and receivedon the end of flue collar 30 in tigh connection therewith is vent hood41, which is attachet to flange 28 by means of screws 42.

In order to insure that radiator casing 29 is space the proper distancefrom rear wall 13 and support wal 34, aligning brackets 43, 44, 45, and46 are provider which are spot welded to rear wall 13 and extend outwardly therefrom. Radiator casing 29 is attached ti aligning brackets4346 by sheet metal screws 47 so tha the radiator casing is spaced fromthe support wall 3 and rear wall 13, thereby allowing the passage of airbe tween these parts.

The lower portion of radiator casing 29 is provide with an opening whichis covered by burner access doo 48 (see FIG. 4). Burner access door 48is removablj secured to radiator casing 29, and provides access to thmain burner (not shown) which is located within th combustion chamberprovided in the lower portion 0 radiator casing 29. For a more detaileddescription 0 the burner access door and the main burner, see our copending application, Ser. No. 550,825, filed May 17, 196( entitled GasWall Heater.

At an intermediate level of radiator casing 29, th front and backthereof extend inwardly toward eacl other to form restricted neckportion 49. The front 0 neck portion 49 provides air-directing channel50 de fined by inwardly and upwardly-extending wall 51 (FIG 5) andoutwardly and upwardly extending wall 52. Th rear of neck portion 49provides air-directing channr 53 defined by inwardly and upwardlyextending wall 5 (FIG. 5) and outwardly and upwardly extending wal 55.Both air-directing channel 5!) and air-directing char nel 53 extendgenerally horizontally across the front an back faces, respectively, ofradiator casing 29. However, it is to be understood that neck portion49' may be provided by the inward extension of one or both of the frontor back of casing 29.

Attached to rear wall 13 of the outer casing and extending parallel toside walls 16 is fire wall 56 (see FIGS. 2 and 4), having an opening 57aligned with airdirecting channels 50 and 53. Opening 57 preferablyextends radially outwardly beyond the front and back spaces of radiatorcasing 29, as can be seen best in FIG. 2.

Mounted on fire wall 56 is a conventional motordriven air blower 58 ofthe squirrel-cage type (see FIG. 3). The air blower 58 includes anelectric motor 59 and a squirrel-cage impeller 60 mounted on driveshaft61 of the motor. Air intake portion 62 of the air blower 58 ispositioned at the opening 57 of the fire wall 56 (see FIG. 4). Airoutlet portion 63 of the air blower extends through an opening 64provided in control panel 65, which is secured to fire wall 56 and sidewall 16. Air outlet portion 63 may be covered by louver-equipped grille66. Motor control knob 67 may be mounted on control panel 65 andelectrically connected to motor 58 for regulating the speed thereof.

Attached to front panel 17 and generally coextensive therewith in thehorizontal direction is baffle plate 68. Baffie plate 68 is opposed toand extends above and below air-directing channel 50. Similarly, supportwall 34 and rear wall 13 are opposed to and extend above and belowair-directing channel 53.

The burner of the gas heater is ignited in the conventional manner andcold air is drawn from outside the room through inlet air collar 27,passes through air passage 36, and enters the radiator casing throughinlet air tube 31. Hot combustion products rise upwardly inside theradiator casing 29, heating it thoroughly, and are expelled through fluetube 39 and vent hood 41 to the outside atmosphere. The neck portion 49of the casing tends to decrease the rate at which the hue products areexhausted by the flue collar 30 so that maximum heat may be transferredfrom the flue products to the casing. The radiator casing heats thesurrounding air, and the light heated air rises through outlet grilles22 and 23 of front panel 17 and top wall 12, respectively. Heavier coldair is then forced through intake grille 21 and slots a. As this air isheated, it passes upwardly, completely surrounding casing 29, and inturn eventually passes through grilles 22 and 23. The direction ofgravity-air circulation is shown by arrows in FIGS. 2 and 5. Air space26 provided between rear wall 13 and room wall serves to prevent theouter casing from becoming excessively heated and allows additionalcirculation of hot air.

If it is desirable to increase the circulation of heated air or toeliminate cold spots on the fioor of the room that is being heated, theair blower 58 is used. Since the air blower is not intended to be theprime air mover but only an aid to gravity-forced circulation, the airblower must be positioned so that it does not interfere with the naturaloperation of the gas heater by gravity circulation. The air blower mustalso be positioned so that the air entering the intake portion of theair blower is sufficiently heated to accomplish the desired heatingetfect. For these reasons, radiator casing 29 is provided with theintermediate neck portion 49 and air-directing channels 50 and 53. Theair intake 62 of the air blower is p0sitioned in horizontal alignmentwith the air-directing channels, and fire wall 56 provides a heatbarrier between the radiator casing and the motor 59 of the air blower.The motor 59 may be adapted for multispeed operation, and the wiringcontrol which is necessary for speed selection may also be positionedbehind the protective fire wall.

As the air which enters intake grille 21 and slots 15a is heated by theradiator casing and rises along the front and back of the casing, someof the air enters air-directing channels 50 and 53 and is restrainedagainst further upward movement by upper walls 52 and 53 of neck portion49. The air in the channels is drawn by the air blower through airintake 62 as shown by the arrows in FIG. 6. After the air is drawnthrough the air intake, the squirrelcage impeller 60 forces it throughthe outlet portion 63 into the room.

The air-directing channels 50 and 53 are positioned at an intermediateportion of radiator casing 29 above the combustion chamber-providingportion of the casing so that air which enters the channels has passedover a substantial area of the radiator casing and is well heated.Bafiie plate 68 serves to prevent cold air from being drawn throughoutlet grille 22 directly into channel 59 or into the air intake 62 ofthe air blower. As an alterna tive to providing the baffle plate, theimperforate portion 24- of front panel 17 may be extended above andbelow air-directing channel 50. The upper walls 52 and 55 of the neckportion 49 may extend substantially horizontally outwardly rather thanbeing inclined upwardly if it is desired to retain more air in theair-directing channels.

Bafiie plate 68 is spaced away from the front of radiator casing 29 andchannel 50 so that some air will rise upwardly past channel 50 and flowthrough outlet grilles 22 and 23. Likewise, support wall 34 and rearwall 13 are spaced away from the back of radiator casing 29 and channel53 so that some air rising behind the casing passes channel 53 and flowsthrough outlet grille 23. Thus, even when the air blower is beingoperated, the gravity-flow operation of the gas heater is notinterrupted.

As can be seen in FIG. 4, the outlet portion 63 of the air blower 58 ispositioned closer to the floor of the room than the intake portion 62.The louvers of grille 66 may be adjustable so that air forced throughoutlet portion 63 may be directed downwardly, thereby eliminating coldspots in the lower regions of the room which would be present if onlygravity circulation of the heated air were used. The louvers may also beadjusted so that the heated air is expelled in a generally horizontalmanner if merely increased circulation of heated air is desired.

The air blower may be equipped with an adjustable switch which activatesthe motor by sensing the temperature rise in the combustion chamber uponheatup.

From the fore-going, it is seen that a gas heater has been provided withan air blower for aiding the circulation of heated air. Theconfiguration of the combustion chamber casing and the positioning ofthe air blower are such that maximum CffiClCHCY of the air blower isobtained without interference with the normal gravity-forced circulationof the heated air.

While in the foregoing specification a detailed embodiment of theinvention was set forth for purposes of explanation, it will be apparentto those skilled in the art that many of the details herein given may bevaried considerably without hearing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

We claim:

1. In a wall heater having an outer casing, a radiator casing mountedwithin said outer casing in spaced relation thereto, said outer casinghaving a front panel providing an air intake grill in the lower portionthereof and an air discharge grill in its upper portion, said radiatorcasing having an air-directing channel provided by a restricted neckportion of said radiator casing for directing heated air in a generallyhorizontal direction, and air blower means mounted on said outer casingadjacent said air-directing channel for withdrawing heated air from saidchannel and discharging said air into the room to be heated.

2. The wall heater of claim 1 in which said neck portion provides aninwardly and upwardly inclined lower wall and an outwardly and upwardlyinclined upper wall.

3. The wall heater of claim 1 including a baflie plate mounted on saidouter casing in opposed relation to said air-directing means andextending above and below said air-directing means.

4. The wall heater of claim 1 in which said front panel also provides animperforate portion between said air intake grille and said airdischarge grille, said imperforate portion extending above and belowsaid air-directing means.

5. The wall heater of claim 1 in which said air blower means includes amotor-driven squirrel-cage impeller having an air intake and air outlet,said air intake being in general horizontal alignment with saidair-directing means and said air outlet being directed toward the roomto be heated.

6. The wall heater of claim 1 in which said neck portion provides asecond air-directing channel opposite the first mentioned channel, saidneck portion providing a pair of opposed inwardly and upwardly inclinedlowe walls and a pair of opposed outwardly and upwardly i: clined upperwalls.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,241,025 5/1941 Wedderspoon126-1101 2,279,975 4/ 1942 Evans 12611 2,281,874 5/1942 Funk 126113,297,079 1/ 1967 Blurnenshine 126-4101 JAMES W. WESTHAVER, PrimaryExaminer.

